The Abbotsford Canucks' strong season and what it may mean in the long run

National Post

5 days ago

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He got a tasted of the NHL, but clearly that season back in the minors proved to be a finishing school for him. He's a best-case scenario here.
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The 2021-22 Stockton Heat might prove a more useful example. That season they were +57 in goal differential. That year's roster was relatively young, but the top scorers — Matthew Phillips, Jakob Pelletier and Glenn Gawdin — have struggled to make an impact in the NHL.
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You have to go down the list to the team's youngest players to find the guys who are now making an impact in the NHL for the Flames: You see Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil, as well as Dustin Wolf.
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Both those forwards played important roles this season for the Flames: the team still hopes Zary will pan out as a top-six winger, though he's already a very competent third-line two way player. Pospisil has been a physical force on the wing, though his lack of scoring touch is notable. Still, he's exactly the kind of guy you hope your minor league program will graduate to the NHL.
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And in the end, with these Abbotsford Canucks, it's the Pospisil type that the NHL Canucks are most likely to get out of their current AHL crop.
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The AHL team did help Elias Junior Pettersson progress into an NHL regular. He's probably this season's best-case development scenario. Jonathan Lekkerimäki has had an uneven season, but still showed with his scoring hands that he's going to be at least able to score in the show.
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But it's the trio of Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson and Aatu Räty that are the most likely to come out of this year's AHL roster and make any difference in the AHL. Räty could very well become the NHL team's third-line centre, while both Karlsson and Bains showed flashes at time this season of being effective fourth liners.
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